The Number Blog...

We brewed sixty-nine pots of coffee last weekend for our Ladies Retreat.  At ten cups per pot - that's 690 cups of coffee!  There were 108 ladies.  Let me help you with the math - 6.38 cups of coffee per lady!  The .38 is probably pretty accurate because often there is a bit of coffee left in the cup!  It was a great weekend and as a staff we really enjoyed serving the ladies.  The "huck a boot" contest could be on its way to becoming a new activity here at Evergreen!

Speaking of numbers - 118.  We are 118 campers ahead of last year at this time.  11 of our 26 camps are full.  While we are thankful for the good challenge of full camps, there is a down side.  Traditionally we have been able to really promote summer camp to our school guest groups in spring.  This year, as last, our camps will be close to full by time our busy spring season starts.  That means most of our spring guests will have to wait over a year to come back as campers. 

It was a bit of a slower week on the homes.  Scott and Brian were working on another project this week.  Walt rounded up a few volunteers to help finish the ceilings.  Thanks Gerald, Shelley and Gary for coming out to serve us.  Speaking of volunteers - Ryan was setting us up with data lines in the homes and brought his son along for help!  It's never too early to start volunteering.  If all goes to plan (famous last words) we will be insulating the attic next week and we're very close to hooking up the electrical to the homes so we can start heating them.

The final numbers for this blog, 28, 100, 2 and 2.  Twenty-eight is the current number of staff and volunteers we have on site.  This is the largest winter staff that we've ever had.  We didn't start that big, but we've sort of been growing over winter.  Our last two volunteers - Helmut and Doris - arrived this week.  And it's a good thing we have such a large staff.  Holy Spirit Academy grade sixers came to Evergreen this week - all 100 of them!  100 is a large group for us to serve in winter.  And the good news?  As a large staff we are doing our job.  We just got word (again) that two of our recent guests registered to come back this summer.  That's why we are here and that's why we do what we do!

And the final number two?  You can tell summer is around the corner because I have two brand new pairs of Crocs - with new charms.  Bring on summer!
 

Thanks for your continued support as we continue to reach higher.

Bob "Ranger" Kroeker
Executive Director

Signs

One of our signs of spring here at Camp Evergreen is the Fallen Timber Creek starting to flow.  I experienced that first hand yesterday as the ice was not as thick as I had expected, and the creek was deeper than my boots were anticipating!  It was fun to break up some of the ice and get it flowing down stream.

A second sign of spring is 776 campers.  You read that correctly.  We have 776 campers registered and we continue to be about 100 campers ahead of last year at this time.  It's still March and nine of our camps are full.  Seven out of those camps already have waiting lists.  Unfortunately that means we are turning campers away.

A final sign (at least for this blog!) of spring is Rolf building a float.  I'm not sure what you think about when you hear the word float, but my mind immediately goes to a root beer float.  Frozen mug, Chapman's ice cream and super cold Barg's...focus Ranger.  I can also picture a float in a Disney parade.  But the kind of float Rolf is building will "float" our fields as the grass gets ready to grow.  If you've been on our fields at all you will have noticed lots and lots and lots of mole hills.  We will be "floating" heavy steel behind the tractor smoothing out our fields.

We also had signs this week that our homes are moving along.  Insulation arrived for house number two and drywall arrived for the ceilings.  Electrical rough in for house number two is almost finished.  Our "data wire guy" (not sure if that is the technical title) finished up house number two.

The board has voted to finish these homes as quick as possible and we're secretly hoping we can have a ribbon cutting for house number one at our AGM.  (Quick, mark Saturday June 24 on your calendar!)

We also continued to reach higher this week with a new freezer for our kitchen.  This freezer will help us especially in summer as we struggle to find room for all the food we need in our current freezer and cooler.  The beauty of this freezer is not only the size (it's BIG - think playing a wide game in it) but once the new lodge is built we can move this freezer to its new home.

Reaching Higher, as most of you know, is our recently launched ministry expansion and capital campaign.  The purpose of Reaching Higher is very simple.  We want to see more kids come to know Jesus and more lives to be transformed by the power of Jesus.  Reaching Higher is a bold plan to enable Camp Evergreen to have its greatest impact in our second 50 years.  We need your help to make this happen!

Thanks for your continued support.

Bob "Ranger" Kroeker
Executive Director